When daddy's away

Adam was hunting this weekend, so the boys and I kept busy.  We had gymnastics in the morning, a babysitter in the afternoon so I could take my run, birthday party in the evening, and then Sunday school bright and early.  Kale is just coming back from a tough week of being sick.  We had him on a steroid for a few days, but I stopped it after I discovered the side effects - bouncing off the walls!  He started not sleeping well on Sunday night - he was up 5 times!  The good news is that it's getting better each night.  However, that doesn't make it any easier!  It's amazing how quickly you take for granted a full nights sleep. 

Adam got home on Sunday afternoon, just as the boys were getting up from their naps.  It was a beautiful day so we decided to take the kids on a treasure hunt - aka geocaching.  It was more fun than we thought it would be, which means we'll pick it up next year again in the spring.  We were only a few blocks from our house and the colors were really pretty, too.  After the adventure Adam raked up some leaves for the boys to jump in.  The boys also enjoyed sitting in Adam's duck boat and using the duck calls.  The new rule is that the duck calls stay in daddy's truck!

Sneaky

Kale woke up from his nap today while I was downstairs.  Eventually he called my name so I went to get him.  He looked a little sleepy so we went over to the couch to cuddle.  As we were sitting there he started chewing on something.  I asked him to open his mouth - and in it was a piece of gum!  What a little sneak!  My purse was sitting on the bench in the entry way, and he managed to rummage through the huge mess in it, find the pack of Orbit, take it out of the packet and unwrap it.  I now have to hang my purse on a hook!

Happy birthday Grandma!

We spent the weekend in St. Cloud celebrating my mom's birthday and retirement. It was just so exciting for the boys to see all their cousins that they literally hardly slept - like maybe 6 hours Friday night.  That meant we had lots of fun taking a full family photo (all 18 of us) early Saturday morning.  Mom's birthday gift from us was to have a professional photographer come to the house and take a family picture.  The boys just could not pull it together and fussed, whined and cried through most of the pictures.  Miraculously the photographer was able to snap just enough pics where the boys don't look terrible.  You just hate to be that family with the crying kids in the pictures! 

Thankfully the boys napped so they were ready to go for the party.  All of my aunts and uncles plus some family friends were able to make it to my mom's party.  She loved it!  The relatives loved seeing all of the kids, because they don't get to see them very often.  Kale was a little clingy because he was short on sleep, but Nolan did really well.  He's a lot more self sufficient because of his age!  The kids didn't get to bed until after 10 and I didn't get to bed until after midnight.  I knew it would be an early morning!

Adam stayed home with the boys Sunday morning so I could take my run.  We stayed at my parent's house until after nap and then headed toward home.  It was a gorgeous day so we made our annual trip to the Minnetonka Apple Orchard.  This is our 4th annual trip and it's so fun to see how much they've grown!  The boys loved the train, the corn crib with the huge slide, the hay ride and of course eating the apples.  The really wanted to try and tackle the huge mound of hay, but they are just a few years too young.  Nolan was super disappointed by that and threw a bit of a fit, but got over it once he saw the train.  All the fresh air helped the kids go to bed quickly, too.

Wagon ride

Tonight was our first ECFE event.  Adam made it home just in time to eat a quick dinner and then we were off to the Gale Wood Farm for a bonfire and wagon ride.  The kids thought it was great.  A couple of the farm cats were hanging around so the poor thing got chased until he had enough.  We did a full ride around the farm, which we found out is 460 acres.  What a great rec area to have only a mile and a half from where we live!  We saw deer, turkeys, cows, sheep, and goats on the ride.  We enjoyed the bonfire a little longer after the wagon ride.  The boys were having a great time running around in the open space.  The gentleman who gave us the ride asked us what we fed them for dinner.  We told him pork chops, corn on the cob and brown rice.  He laughed and asked what happens when we give them sugar!  They are high energy, that's for sure.

Tall and lanky

We had Kale's 2 year check up today.  He is still growing like a weed - 36.25 inches tall, which is 91% for his age group.  His weight gain, however, has come to a bit of a stall.  He only gained a half a pound in 6 months - up to 26 lbs 13 oz, which is only 34% for his age.  He has been in the 50th percentile most of the time.  The dr. recommended we bring him back in 6 months for a weight recheck.  The 2T pants fit him perfect length wise, but waist wise they're quite big!  He is right on track where he needs to be otherwise. 

His current favorites are:
food: Cookie Crisp cereal, oatmeal, snacks/treats of any kind
books: If You Give a Pig a Party, Dora and the Pumpkin Patch, Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site
movies: Cars II
cartoons: Team Umi Zoomi and Dora

Birthday party, part II

Both boys were excited for Kale's party.  We didn't start celebrating until after nap, which worked for well for Kale because he was in a fantastic mood.  He received tons of cool gifts - lots of tractors, a John Deere farm, a bumblebee suitcase, books, clothes, soccer ball, and lots of other things.  He actually opened all of his gifts this year.  Good thing Nolan didn't complain at all.  He sat great when we all sang happy birthday to him and he blew out his candle without grabbing in, so no burnt finger this year!  We had beautiful weather again - 80+ degrees and sunny.  The kids had fun playing with their cousins and friends and spent a lot of time in the playhouse - which meant Adam and I actually got to visit with some of our guests! 

Church with no kids = relaxing!

Adam and I had the best experience at church this morning.  Kale participated in the children's message again.  Nolan didn't, but as soon as it was over I took him to his very first day of Sunday school.  I was a little nervous about how he would do, but he settled right in to the classroom and didn't even notice when I left.  I went back to sit next to Adam and decided that we should try to put Kale in the nursery.  I took him down there, picked up my parent pager and left.  Adam was surprised I was back so soon.  We figured we haven't really listened to a sermon or most of the service in about 3 1/2 years.  It was fabulous.  We felt super relaxed and rejuvinated.  Why hadn't we done this years ago?  The two girls who were working reported that Kale cried a little after I left, but quickly realized there were tons of cool new toys to play with and settled right in.  We figure that at some point we'll need to volunteer in the nursery to make up for his tears!

Smile!

Another busy Saturday, which is becoming the norm!  Adam got to come with to gymnastics this morning, which was super helpful.  He was impressed by how well Nolan did, and wasn't the least bit surprised that Kale kept trying to make a quick get away!  We gave the boys a bath after lunch and then they went down for a nap.  It was archery opener, so Adam went hunting in the afternoon.  As soon as the boys got up from their nap I took them to EP Center so Kale could get his 2 year pictures taken.  His 18 month photo shoot did not go well - we got one picture of him and he was holding his treat cup and water.  This time he totally rocked it.  He was full of smiles and was super cooperative for the 10 minutes he needed to be.  I was so proud of him!  He took some really great pictures.  Nolan was good, too, and occupied himself in the waiting area, playing with the toys and watching the movie.  One of the funniest things he's said in a while happened when we came up to the elevator.  He looked up at me and said "Mom, do we get to ride the alligator?"  I burst in to laughter in the middle of JC Penney's.  I'm sure people thought I was a little crazy! 

We 've been busy getting ready for Kale's birthday party on Sunday.  We've been doing a little bit each night so it shouldn't be too bad tonight.  I just need to finish prepping the food and decorate the cake.  Hopefully it will be as easy as I think it will be!

Happy 2nd birthday, Kale!

Kale is two years old today.  The strangest thing happened at 1:20 this morning - Kale woke up crying.  What's odd about it is that it was at that same time that I was in the final stages of labor with him.  He fell asleep again about 20 minutes later, which is the time he was born.  I went to bed smiling, even though I was up in the middle of the night! Kale is a pretty typical 2 year old.  He has really high highs - he gives hugs and kisses freely, wants to cuddle, plays nicely and is polite.  And then something happens - he starts hitting things randomly, throws himself in the air and on to his butt in a fit of rage because we told him no, and he won't stop crying and screaming.  If anything it makes life interesting! 

We spent a low key birthday with Kale.  Jane threw him a nice party at daycare.  He came home with an awesome pirate ship.  We had a quick dinner and then went to the old car show at the Minnetonka drive in.  Both boys love the old cars.  He even went to bed good for us, which has been a bit hit and miss lately.  Nolan was so excited to celebrate with him, which made it a lot easier for us.

Tumbling

The boys had their first gymnastics session on Saturday. They both loved it. It was so nice to see Nolan adapt to it quickly, which was exactly the opposite of what happened in soccer! Kale did the best he could, but he kept getting away from me so he could run and jump off all the mats. Both of them loved the rings. Adam wasn’t able to come with, so it was just me – a little more challenging since it’s a parent participation required class! The instructor was really nice and helped Nolan most of the time, so I could chase after Kale. When we got home from gymnastics we met my sister and her kids at our house. My other sister and her daughter showed up a little later, and we spent the day celebrating an early birthday for Kale. Kale especially celebrated by not taking a nap! He had a great time playing with his cousins, riding the trike, and being his usual crazy self. At one point he was riding in his Little Tykes pick up truck. He slipped off the seat, fell on the ground and the truck kept moving and ran him over. He didn’t get hurt, which is why it was pretty funny! I made him a baseball cake for the party, and he did so much better than last year with the candle – he actually blew it out! The kids had fun picking and washing rocks, and washing the truck. The two babies were great and so quiet.

I made it to church with the kids on Sunday. I mistakenly arrived a ½ hour before the start of church – oops! The kids actually did pretty good, especially given we were there for over 2 hours. Nolan wasn’t interested in going up front for the children’s message, but Kale was, so I took him up there. Nolan sat in our pew at the back of the church with one of the usher’s who likes to sit by us. Kale thought it was great being up there with the other kids. He didn’t sit still for the whole message, but he didn’t run away from me, so it was a win for everyone. When we got back to the pew the usher told me that Nolan told him that he’s going to go to Sunday school in a little bit. We are going to give it a try and see how he does next week. After church we had brunch at Scotty B’s, and then it was nap time – and boy did they nap! As soon as they woke up around 3 we got ready and went to the carnival in town. The boys went on three rides – the motorcycles, the boats and the trucks. I thought they would have been more impressed, but they both sat there with an expression that said “this is it?”. They also played a few children’s games and won prizes – hurray for more stuff in our house! Nolan came home with a sparkly blue whale, a patriotic teddy bear and a blue balloon sword. Kale came home with a Dora the Explorer doll, a starfish and a red balloon sword. Every time we drive by the place where the carnival was held Nolan tells me he wants to go to the carnival again!

As we pulled out of the driveway this morning Nolan said “mom, I need to tell dad one more thing.” I stopped the car, backed up and waved Adam over. Nolan told him “when I’m bigger I’m going to ride a motorcycle and match you.” Seriously, that couldn’t have waited? Nolan seems to be on the fast track to grow up and be just like dad!

17 1/2 Years Too Soon

Nolan was playing in the sandbox at daycare this morning with all the other kids.  He went over to the play kitchen, opened the fridge and told his friends “I’ll grab some beers for everyone”.  He then told Jane he thought beer would go good in muffins.  Sounds like we might have to keep a close eye on him!

Home at Last

We were busy this weekend, but it was nice to be near home! Adam and the boys surprised me at the finish line of my 10K race Saturday morning. Adam said that Nolan clapped for every runner that went by – what a kid! Adam and the boys took their time getting home from St. Paul, which gave me time to get home and unwind a little bit. Nolan had been asking to go camping for quite a while, so Adam and I set up the camper. After Kale went to bed (in the house), we had a bonfire. After a s’more Nolan went to bed in the camper. Adam’s allergies have been acting up so he slept in the house with Kale. Nolan and I camped out for the night. He’s such a good sleeper that it wasn’t a big deal. We were up early, of course, but that’s not different than any other weekend! We took the boys to the zoo on Sunday afternoon, and then spent an evening hanging out with friends. It was nice to have Monday to be home and get odds and ends taken care of. The boys had fun helping Adam wash the car, playing in the sprinkler and just generally enjoying the hot weather!

N: Dad, do you know what would go good with donuts?

D: No, what?

N: Ketchup